National Assembly doubles rural electrification budget to N31bn

The National Assembly has doubled the 2017 budget proposal of the National Rural Electrification Agency, (NREA), raising the executive expenditure proposal for the agency from N16,137,871,005 to N31,044,204551 as contained in the Appropriation Bill passed last Thursday, Vanguard reports.

The legislature also partially increased the N40 billion proposed in the budget by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, to N42 billion, which is a difference of N2 billion. In the budget, the agency itemised various projects for executions under the fiscal year, which include the rehabilitation, completion and construction of rural electrification projects across the nation.

The agencies under the Ministry of Power, which received various appropriations included: National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC; National Electricity Management Services Agency, NEMSA; National Power Training Institute, NAPTI; National Electricity Liability Management Limited, NELMCO; Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN and National Bulk Electricity Trading, NBET.